But, in addition to changing how your business operates, a telematics system can also drive positive changes in the behavior of your drivers. This matters a great deal when it comes to safety. You need your drivers to own safety. They need to fully buy into your safety program, make safety their top priority when they are behind the wheel, and drive with an awareness that accidents or moving violations can have personal consequences for themselves in addition to what they might cost the company.
Here are some of the ways that implementing a telematics system can make your drivers more safety conscious.
Reinforce your safety plan. Your safety plan will have multiple components, including driver training, coaching, regular meetings and conversations focused on safety, and more. Through your telematics system, you can gather and share the data needed to reinforce your various safety efforts and initiatives – vehicle speed, safety scores, instances of unsafe behavior – and arm your safety manager with intelligence to make needed changes to the program.
Monitoring their activities behind the wheel. Dashcams allow you to check in on your drivers’ activities behind the wheel, and they also can make a big impact when it comes to safety. According to the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, dashcams, when combined with driver coaching, reduce safety-related events by 52%. These safety improvements can be a powerful way to demonstrate the ROI of your telematics system, as some companies we have worked with have discovered.
Real-time alerts and corrections. Dashcams, many of which now feature AI functionality, can detect and even predict dangerous driver behavior before it results in an accident and send signals to drivers to make them aware that what they are doing is unsafe and to correct their behavior. While, ideally, drivers won’t become over-reliant on these technology-enabled nudges, they can help make them more aware of their behavior and encourage them to be as safe as possible.
The Right Combination